A/N: Written in response to (name). Set after season 2 finale which has not yet aired at the time of writing. I do not own any of the characters or the show.
I fill in another line of the crossword. Next to me, Kate is asleep soundly.
"This is cute." Natalie perches on the arm of the couch by Kate's feet.
"You'll wake Kate." I reply absently, filling in another line.
"She can't hear me Daniel. How can I wake her if she can't hear me?" Natalie retorts, but she smiles down at Kate. "Never thought you'd actually invite her for a sleepover."
"She's the only one sleeping Nat."
Kate mutters something unintelligible and sits up.
"Who're you talkin' to?" She asks, yawning. "Oh, crap. What timesit?"
"Natalie. And it's morning. When do you have to go to the FBI?"
Kate scrubs her face with both hands, giving me ample time to study her. Shooting Rickford and the trial that followed took a toll on her. She looks paler, and in spite of sleeping almost ten hours on my couch dark shadows ring her eyes. Even after I had seen her in the library until nearly three in the morning night after night when she was my student, I had never seen her look so… weak.
"Noon. I should go home, shower."
Lewicki's footsteps echo down the stairs. "Hey, Doc…" He pauses. "Oh, sorry, Kate. I didn't realize that you had stayed the night."
"Neither did I." She sighed.
"It's going to be fine, Kate." I say, and put down the crossword. "And if the FBI doesn't want you back, you can always take Lewicki's job."
This makes Kate shake her head and smile. She rises and slips into the kitchen with Lewicki, and I can hear them speaking quietly, Lewicki inviting her to stay long enough to eat breakfast.
"If you want her to stay, you could just ask her to marry you" Natalie points out as I gather up my crossword and head towards the kitchen.
"That's absurd, Natalie. We haven't even begun dating, how can I ask her to marry me if we haven't dated?" I realize to late that I've finished the sentence when Kate drops a glass.
"Sorry. I'll buy you a new one Daniel. New girlfriend?" She drops out of sight behind the island.
"Just Natalie being… Natalie."
"Oh." Kate dumps the broken glass into the trash and sits down. "Who does Natalie want you to marry?"
"She…she…" I swallow. "Are you done destroying my dishware?"
"Nice diversion." Kate leans across the island. "I'll get the answer out of you somehow. Do you mind if I catch your first class? I should have enough time for it, before I have to head back to my apartment to make myself presentable for… you know…"
"You're not a kid, Kate. You don't have to ask permission." I reply and look back to my crossword.
Natalie's eyes bore into me.
"Shut up Nat." I mutter. "If it would make you happier to have my permission, then, no, I don't mind. I… I've missed having you in my class." I stand up and go upstairs to get dressed, wishing that Natalie wouldn't follow me with her knowing stare.
"I forgot how much I missed your lectures." Kate comments as she walks with Lewicki and I back to my office.
I wave him inside in front of us and stop to brush Kate's hair behind her ear. She twitches back and blushes before clearing her throat and smoothing the wayward strand back again, trying to hand the blush.
"I… should go."
"Call or do that typing thing on the phone when you get done." I catch her hand and watch her eyes.
If it weren't for the students, if it weren't for the fact that Paul could walk up at any moment, or that Kate had arranged for Donnie to pick her up from outside my office since her car was still technically impounded. If it weren't for the fact that I was paranoid schizophrenic, and that I regularly talked to door and walls. I still couldn't get Kate's face out of my mind, from when she first was hit with the reality of my condition.
"Kate." Donnie's voice causes me to pull my hand away. "You ready to go?"
She sighs. "Okay. I'll… I'll text Lewicki later, Daniel."
Then she walks down the hallway, shoving Donnie's hand away when he tries to put it against her back, and I dig out my walkman, cranking up the music. Kate is going to be fine. She has to be. She was cleared of all charges – it was found that he shot first. Sure, there was the issue of trespassing, but they had been seen together at some bar so Donnie had put together an argument that Rickford had convinced her to come back to his house, and it wasn't until after that that he had pulled the gun on her.
It's near impossible to concentrate on teaching, on engaging my students in my lectures. Perhaps they can sense my unease.
"Stop comparing your students to dogs." Natalie chides when I duck out into the quad between classes, glad that I have an hour to breathe this time. "Most humans aren't that good on picking up signals. You weren't that out of sorts, Lewicki would have brought you back down if you had been."
I ignore her and clamp my headphones over my ears, drowning her words with the swells of music.
A hand touches my arm and I look up, pull down the head phones.
"Kate. I thought you were going to call. Or text."
Kate sits next to me and stares up at the tree branches overhead. Tears glisten in the corner of her eye.
"Oh no. You didn't-"
"I'm on suspension for two weeks. For reckless endangerment." Her voice is shaky. "I thought the trial was going to be the worst of it, after I figured out that he actually didn't rape her."
"That was worse?" I hesitate, and put my own hand over hers.
If I had just listened, instead of being too wrapped up with Miranda…
"Much worse. I was terrified the whole time I wasn't going to get my badge back. The way they were talking, I was almost certain…" She sits up straight and flips her hand over, weaving her fingers between mine. "It's over now. I have my badge, and got my car out of the impound lot. I guess things will get back to normal." She sighs. "I'm welcome to invade your classes during the next two weeks right?"
"Of course. Getting put on suspension the last time made you shoot someone. I don't think I want you shooting anyone else Kate."
She swats my arm and laughs softly. I stand and pull her to her feet, letting our joined hands dangle between us as we walk silently back to my office. This time, I don't care about the students or Paul or Lewicki. I want to keep holding her hand. The tears I saw in her eyes are dry now, and that is what is most important.
Just outside my office, I pull Kate in close and brush my lips against her forehead.